STRONG WINTER STORM ARRIVES TUESDAY....

A powerful winter storm will be moving into the Midwest on Tuesday. With it there will be accumulations of ice and snow. There is still uncertainty in terms of how much snow/ice falls and where. In the next 24 hours we will really have a better handle on the situation, but there will likely be headaches along the way.

The National Weather Service has already started to post Winter Storm Watches as of Sunday evening:

The Watches will surely be extended east.

So, first things first Monday will be quiet. Moisture will be building in and we'll be dealing with moisture levels (precipitable water amounts) that are 300 to 400% of what we'd normally see this time of year.

The show starts Tuesday in the afternoon and we likely begin with snow or a wintry mix at first and then that's where things get tricky. Either you're solidly in the snow, in the mix, or in the rain. Here's an animation with the NAM model for Tuesday through early Thursday:

Here's a snap shot of the storm, during it's peak Tuesday night into Wednesday morning:

European:

GFS:

NAM:

As you can see these are colorful maps... there will be snow, sleet, freezing, rain, and rain with this system. And there are likely going to be some hefty totals with all of the moisture in place.

Here's the latest forecast forecast from the NWS out of the Quad Cities... remember, we are still two days removed from the precipitation starting so there will likely be tweaks to the forecast:

Highways 30 is in the crosshairs for a wintry mix and ice accumulations. Higher snowfall totals will be likely north of there and likely near and north of Highway 20.

We'll continue to update you. But tough travel is likely Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning.

RK